Point of No Return
As ''Yamato begins to struggle with depleted supplies and sagging morale, General Erich Domel plans a massive assault on the Earth ship. Abelt Dessler's regime brutally asserts control over the empire--but Dessler himself becomes a target.'' Summary Aboard Yamato In the battleship Yamato hangar bay, Ensigns Akira Yamamoto and Hiroki Shinohara are looking over one of the fighters when Yamamoto spots Lieutenant Susumu Kodai. Her face brightens and she calls out to him, but his attention is drawn to Lieutenant Yuki Mori. Discouraged, Yamamoto runs out of the bay. Kodai asks Shinohara why, but at that moment, an alert sounds at the approach of yet another Garmillas force reconnaissance vessel. The crew rushes to combat stations, but like so many other force recons in recent days, the vessel turns and retreats almost as soon as it is detected. Frustration is growing. Assistant Warrant Officer Yuria Misaki wanders the halls of Yamato, not entirely herself. After visiting the wave motion gun control room, she walks into the mess hall, where nurse Makoto Harada and Lieutenant Saburo Kato are chatting about rumors of a beautiful "alien ghost," and several other officers are bemoaning the temporary breakdown of the OMCS food processing system and the paltry food rations. Misaki finds executive officer Shiro Sanada and begins to ask him highly advanced theoretical questions about the nature of wave motion energy and its dangers. Sanada is completely engaged, but the other officers are stunned at this exchange between the chief scientist and the teenage girl. Warrant Officer Toru Hoshina takes Misaki by the arm and leads her away as she mumbles about a weapon of mass destruction. Sanada meets with Chief Purser Hajime Hirata and the senior staff to discuss supply problems. Lieutenant Kaoru Niimi recommends that Yamato stop at a nearby planet, Beemela 4. Data provided from Iscandar suggest that the planet is habitable, giving them an opportunity to restock on food and water. Navigator Daisuke Shima believes that a visit to Beemela 4 will not seriously delay their mission, and the stopover is approved. Niimi talks with Security Chief Shinya Itou and a junior member of his security team, Hoshina. Despite her interest in discussing Beemela 4, Itou is preoccupied with reviewing the service record of Lieutenant Mori. He speculates that the record was altered--perhaps by Admiral Ryu Hijikata himself--but he declines to share his reasoning. Afterward, she approaches Shima privately and asks about the mission's progress. He hesitates before answering that it is going well. Niimi says that he is lying, but her tone and body language are flirtatious. She moves closer to Shima and tells him that, as the navigator on a long voyage, he is the most important person on the ship. Niimi leaves Shima to his work. In the corridor, Hoshina stops Shima for a word. Across the Great Garmillas Empire Within Abelt Dessler's private palace chambers in the capital city of Baleras, Miezela Celestella reports on the failed telepathic infiltration of Yamato and Iscandar's involvement with the Earth vessel. Despite the death of her sister during the mission and becoming the only surviving Jirel, Celestella assures Dessler that she remains loyal to him. An Imperial Guard fleet led by Director General Hydom Gimleh arrives in orbit of the subject world Alteria, in response to a popular uprising. On the bridge of his command vessel, Gimleh listens to the Garmillas governor plead for assistance. Instead of offering his help, Gimleh announces that he will level the planet and eliminate anyone responsible for this failure to maintain order, starting with the governor himself. He signals for one of his troops to shoot the governor where he stands, and then instructs the fleet to begin bombarding the Alterian population. Lieutenant General Erich Domel informs a meeting of his commanders on Balun that Dessler will soon be arriving for an inspection that only he and Admiral Gul Dietz know about. Major General Gremdt Goer immediately asks how they will honor their leader, but Colonel Wemm Heidern suggests that the best way to do so will be to destroy Yamato. General Domel sees an opportunity to stop them at a neutron star that lies along the course Yamato is taking to Beemela 4. Boarding his flagship, he personally leads his forces to the coming battle. Imperial Guard forces chase a suspect through the rainy nighttime streets of Baleras. The suspect eludes capture, and finds refuge with Elisa Domel, in the house she shares with her husband. The Desura, Dessler's super dreadnought flagship, approaches an Aquarius gate leading to Balun with an escort of Imperial Guard vessels. Alarms suddenly blare in response to a problem in the main engine, and the bridge crew and Dessler can only watch as the Desura is consumed in an explosion. During a meeting of Dessler's ministers, Field Marshal Herm Zoellik voices his anger over their leader's unannounced disappearance from Garmillas. The meeting quickly changes focus when Gimleh proudly informs his colleagues of his genocidal assault on Alteria. Dietz and Chief Staff Officer Ghader Talan are offended by Gimleh's actions, but Celestella defends them as the only way to maintain peace in the empire. Defense Minister Welte Talan reminds his colleagues that rebellions against the Great Garmillas Empire have been breaking out ever since Yamato left its home system. Zoellik takes a xenophobic stance against all non-Garmillas, ignoring Celestella's quiet fury. At that moment, Vice Leader Redof Hiss runs into the room in a panic with news that Dessler has been assassinated. Carell 163 :For more details, see Battle of Carell 163. General Domel initiates his plan by dispatching two battlecruisers to approach and open fire on Yamato. Sanada orders an emergency warp before they can strike again. Yamato escapes but emerges near Carell 163, where the neutron star's gravitational pull prevents them from warping again. Dozens of warships suddenly emerge and surround them on all sides. Admiral Juzo Okita takes command and orders Yamato to smash through the ambush, but at a heavy cost to the ship. As they attempt to rocket away, a second wave of Garmillas ships warps in and blocks Yamato's flight. This time, Yamato is barely able to fight back. The general is monitoring his imminent victory when a message from Hiss demands that he withdraw immediately in response to an emergency on the homeworld. In frustration and confusion, he obeys. The demoralized and frightened crew of Yamato is astounded to see the Garmillas attackers leaving, and the Battle of Carell 163 comes to an abrupt conclusion. Analysis *Apparently no one aboard Yamato has yet become suspicious of Misaki's unusual behavior, even with it occurring at the same time that stories of an "alien ghost" are being circulated among the crew. A handful of her shipmates have responded to it, but only with surprise, personal concern, and in Sanada's case, delight in her newfound curiosity about wave motion technology. *Kodai's romantic interest in Yamamoto (or what Yamamoto had interpreted as romantic interest) seems to have waned. He and Mori have clearly grown closer following recent events. *Elisa Domel is involved with a movement opposing Dessler's regime. Aside from providing protection for at least one other dissident, it is unclear what her role is. In the episode "What Lies Beyond", she and her husband both continue to grieve over their deceased child, and Dessler's military campaigns have continued to keep Erich and Elisa apart. One or both of these facts may be motivating her treason. *Unlike Earth, which was subjected to attack by Garmillas planet bombs over a period of years and gradually reduced to a wasteland, Alteria was obliterated in a very efficient and swift assault by the Imperial Guard. This suggests that the Great Garmillas Empire, like any other empire, has difficulty mobilizing its resources on the frontiers of its territory: Imperial Guard and military forces can be easily moved to targets like Alteria that are closer to Garmillas itself, but more distant places like Earth pose a greater challenge. It is likely that the empire began to establish a presence in the Milky Way Galaxy only relatively recently. Questions *How many Alterians survived the assault, either on their homeworld or off-world? *Why did Celestella make a point of reaffirming her loyalty to Dessler, even though he never appeared to doubt it? (Possible answer) *What will happen to Domel upon his return to Garmillas? (Answer) *How is knowledge of Yamato spreading and inspiring resistance in the empire? *What did Hoshina speak with Shima about? (Answer) Noteworthy Dialogue *''Herm Zoellik shares his view on the non-Garmillas subjects of the empire with other members of the cabinet, including Miezela Celestella:'' ::Zoellik: Pure bloods are the only ones who matter. We cannot trust the barbarians who do not have blue skin. Behind the Scenes *The lyrics of the Great Garmillas Empire anthem, "Praise Be Our Eternal Glory," make their debut in this episode as part of the score during the Imperial Guard bombardment of Alteria. The instrumental version of the song was first used in the eighth episode, "Wish Upon a Star." Cast (Alphabetized by family name)Anime News Network article on Space Battleship Yamato 2199 http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=13776 *Kenji Akabane as Yasuo Nanbu *Yousuke Akimoto as Redof Hiss *Yutaka Aoyama as Welte Talan *Yuuki Chiba as Kenjiro Ota *Minori Chihara as Miezela Celestella *Cho as Analyzer and Sukeji Yabu *Akira Harada as Liber Droppe *Daisuke Hirakawa as Hiroki Shinohara *Masashi Hirose as Gremdt Goer *Aya Hisakawa as Kaoru Niimi *Katsunosuke Hori as Gul Dietz *Yoshimasa Hosoya as Saburo Kato *Fumihide Ise as Hajime Hirata *Masato Kokubun as Yoshikazu Aihara *Houko Kuwashima as Yuki Mori *Junpei Morita as Hydom Gimleh *Satomi Moriya as Miki Saijo *Mugihito as Hikozaemon Tokugawa *Koutarou Nakamura as Ghader Talan *Akio Ohtsuka as Erich Domel *Houchu Ohtsuka as Shiro Sanada *Daisuke Ono as Susumu Kodai *Takuya Sato as Charis Kreuz *Rina Satou as Makoto Harada *Toshihiko Seki as Shinya Itou *Takayuki Sugo as Juzo Okita *Junichi Suwabe as Fommt Berger *Kenichi Suzumura as Daisuke Shima *Motoki Takagi as Toru Hoshina *Rie Tanaka as Akira Yamamoto *Shinpachi Tsuji as Wemm Heidern *Aya Uchida as Yuria Misaki *Norio Wakamoto as Herm Zoellik *Kouichi Yamadera as Abelt Dessler *Kiyohito Yoshikai as Lyle Getto Gallery Image:Kodai Carell 163 Fire.png|Kodai orders Yamato's guns to fire at point blank range. Image:MoriCrewDatabase.png|Yuki Mori's personnel file, accessed by Lt. Itou. References Category:Yamato 2199 episodes